NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL NEWS

Mohun Bagan's fortunes haven't changed after being out of action for over a month or so as they suffered a defeat at the hands of Salgaocar FC at the Duler Stadium, Goa on Sunday. Gabriel Obatola and Josimar da Silva Martins scored on their league debut for the club and helped them to overpower the mighty Kolkata side.

All of Salgaocar's new foreign signings, namely Gabriel Obatola, John Wilkinson and Josimar da Silva made their debut, while Australian striker Tolgay Ozbey returned to Karim Bencherifa's full strength side which also included Syed Rahim Nabi who was hit by a missile in the ill-fated Kolkata derby.

In the first attempt of the match, Josimar's side volley connected Nicolau Colaco's cross but went wide in the fourth minute, while defender Celestine Echezona stood his ground well in the initial minutes as he helped organised the Bagan backline.

Josimar found Obatula in an open space, but Echezona got on it in a flash to block the Salgaocar striker's shot before Gilbert Oliveira's cross hit the Mariners centre-back for a penalty. Arindam Bhattacharya guessed wrong and dived to his left as Obatola sent his spot-kick wide in the 13th minute.

In another penalty shout, Francis Fernandes powered his way into the Mohun Bagan box, but went to ground rather too easily to a challenge by Echezona which was when Karnataka-based referee Andrew Shekhar booked the Salgaocar winger for simulation in the 27th minute.

Mohun Bagan keeper Arindam Bhattacharya did well to block Josimar's shot on goal, but the ball fell back in play for the Brazilian who spotted Obatola in the firing line. The Nigerian made no mistake to score the opener in the 35th minute.

Seven minutes later, Obatola did well to release Josimar upfont, but Jewel Raja provided good cover for his side's defense which helped Arindam claim the ball. Crossing over in the 48th minute, Denson Devadas found Snehasish
Chakraborty, who replaced Jewel Raja, in an open space on the left, but Salgaocar keeper Karanjit Singh did well to avert the danger.

In the 53rd minute, a one-two between Obatola and Wilkinson saw the latter swirl a shot which saw the Bagan custodian stretch to keep it from entering his net. At the hour mark, Mohun Bagan midfielder Manish Bhargav's cross from
the right was headed wide by Nabi at the near post.

Two minutes later, Francis Fernandes' brilliantly controlled the ball along the right wing to release Obatola who took a shot which saw Arindam Bhattacharya fumble to grasp the ball as Josimar grasped the opportunity to slot home. In the 69th minute, Arindam dived low to his right to keep Wilkinson's free-kick from sneaking in, while Obatola's follow-up shot went wide.

Mohun Bagan took far too long to cause any trouble for the home side as Salgaocar registered their third victory, earning them 14 points from 16 matches, while Karim Bencherifa is yet to open his account after the two-year ban over the club was revoked.

I-League 2012-13: 17th Round: Salgaocar took revenge against Mohun Bagan in their home tie today.

Match End. Salgaocar beat Mohun Bagan in 2-0, Gabriel and Joshimar scored for Salgaocar.
90'+3':Players Change in Salgaocar: Randeep in place of Gabriel.
90'+2':Milagres's shot, Eche blocked it brilliantly.
90':Referee added 5 minutes injury time.
89':Nabi's centre to Manish Bhargav, Bhargav's shot just missed the post.
87':Players Change in Salgaocar: Collin in place of Gilbert.
85':Snehasish's free kick, chance to Manish Bhargav outside the box, but his shot went over the bar.
83':Players Change in Salgaocar: Milagres in place of Joshimer.
82':Joshimer looks injured, game stopped.
81':Nirmal's header went wide.
80':Mohun Bagan's attack and another corner.
78':Being a Player of United FC up to Last Season Joshimar Da Silva scored 4 goals against Mohun Bagan in the I League..
76':Short corner, Manish Bhargav's centre to find Tolgey, Karanjit saves it well.
75':Manish Maithani's shot, blocked and results a corner to Mohun Bagan.
72':Yellow Card. Referee shows another yellow card in the match, this time it is Rocus for his bad tackle to Rakesh Masih.
71':Nirmal's centre to Manish Bhargav, but his shot went wide.
71':Salgaocar leading 2-0 now.
69':Another fine effort by Arindam, this time he drives towards right to denies John's shot from free kick. Gabriel's return shot, went wide
67':Yellow Card. Referee shown yellow card to Nabi as well as Rahul Kumar.
65':Mohun Bagan's Barreto scored 10 goals and Chidi Scored 5 Goals in i-League Vs Salgaocar.....
64':Players Change in Mohun Bagan: Manish Maithani in place of Biswajit.
63':Another attack of Salgaocar through Rocus, but this time Arindam made no mistake, saves it brilliantly.
62':Francis's brilliant pass to Gabriel, Arindam saves the ball but ball goes to Brazilian and former United SC striker Joshimer and he made no mistake to doubles the lead.
62':GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Joshimer doubles the lead for Salgaocar.
61':Gabriel's header from Francis's centre, went wide.
60':Brilliant cross of Manish Bhargav from right and Nabi's brilliant header just missed the target.
56':Manish Bhargav's shot, but Joshimer blocked it very well.
55':Players Change in Mohun Bagan: Manish Bhargav in place of Stanley.
53':Brilliant one-two between Gabriel and John, and a shot, but Arindam made a good save by driving through his left.
50':Denson's forward pass to find Tolgey, but ball directly in Karanjit's hand.
47':Chance to Snehasish in early minutes, but failed to beat Karanjit.
46':Players Change in Mohun Bagan: Snehasish in place of Jewel.
46': Dipendu Biswas and Cheema scored as Mohun Bagan won 2-0 against the first ever encounter in NFL which was an away to Mohun Bagan in 1997-98.
46':Second half started.HALF TIME. Salgaocar leading 1-0 after the end of first half.
45':Referee added 2 minutes injury time.
43':Denson's free kick goes to Nabi, but his header cann't reach Masih, ball cleared.
43':The only hattrick between the two teams tie scored by Felix Chimaokwu on 2007-2008 Ileague but Salgaocar finally lost 4-5 to Mohun Bagan
40':Salgaocar's attack, but Arindam made a good save.
38':Salgaocar leading 1-0 now.
36':The Biggest Away win of Mohun Bagan against Salgaocar was 5-4 on 21st Round of 2001-02 NFL
35':Joshimar assist for the goal. Joshimar first shoot the ball from out side of the box but it came to unmarked Gabriel after deflecting and who scored the goal.
34':GOAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Salgaocar advances through Gabriel Obatola.
33':Score remains still goalless.
32':All of Salgaocar's new foreign players Gabriel Obatola, John Wilkinson and Josimar Silva are making their debut for Goan outfit today
30':Long run of Tolgey from left and a brilliant shot, but Karanjit made a good effort to save it.
29':Yellow Card. Another yellow card but this time it is Tolgey.
27':Yellow Card. Referee shown yellow card to Francis for a dive in Mohun Bagan's box.
26': AIR INDIA vs ONGC today's match at Pune has been cancelled and Air India to play agaisnt Shillong Lajong on 28th Jam
24':Salgaocar's attack but Eche again made a brilliant effort to clear the ball.
22': STATS: Mohun Bagan played 13 away match so far against Salgaocar where they won 5 matches, drew 3 matches amd lost 5 matches. Scored 19 goals and 18 goals scored by Salgaocar.
21':Counter attack of Mohun Bagan but cann't reach Tolgey.
20':Salgaocar's free kick, but Arindam saves it well.
17':Mohun Bagan's attack through Tolgey, Karanjit saved it.
16': STATS: Upto date Mohun Bagan actually played 27 matches in I-League against Salgaocar.In first leg they won 3-0 but AIFF cancelled the Match on 15th Jan meeting. So till they met 26 times whee Mohun Bagan won 10 drew 8 and lost 8 , Goal scored 31 and Goal conceded 26.
14':Score remains still goal less after Salgaocar missed the penalty.
13':Gabriel's missed the spot kick. His shot went wide.
12':Yellow Card. Referee showed yellow card to Eche.
12':Eche handed the ball in box. Referee gives Penalty to Salgaocar.
10':Joshimer's pass to Gabriel, but a brilliant clearance by Eche.
9':Mohun Bagan's attack, tackle to Stanley, he looks injured. game stopped due to injury.
7':Francis's centre, directly in Arindam's hand.
6':Ball cleared from corner as Denson's shot went wide.
5':Mohun Bagan's attack results a corner.
3':Denson's free kick, cleared in defence.
2':Yellow Card. Referee shown yellow card to Cardozo for bad tackle.
0':Kick off.
0':Match is about to start.

INDIAN SR. WOMEN FOOTBALL TEAM BEAT HOLLAND WOMN FOOTBALL TEAM IN 2ND FRIENDLY MATCH..

HOLLAND WOMEN (NAVI MUMBAI - FT..)
IND: ASHALATA DEVI 15' :: 17th January : The First Match Report here. AIFF RELEASE : Incredible scenes engulfed the Father Agnel Sports Complex in Navi Mumbai on Sunday (January, 20) as the Indian Women created history. They defeated the mighty Netherlands in the second of the two International Friendlies by a solitary goal. As the match neared the final whistle, the 4,000 odd crowd started dancing to the tunes of Chak De India, yelling their lungs out "India India". The players in return rushed to acknowledge them as soon as the whistle echoed thrice!

Ashalata Devi scored the early goal which eventually was the difference between the two sides. Sans their key midfielder Supriya Routray and playing in artificial turf which they don't too often, the SAFF Cup Champions beat all the odds to master the 14th ranked Dutch team, and level the two-match Friendly, 1-1. An elated Barua said post match: "This is historic. Who would have given us a chance before the two matches against the Dutch. But we did it. My girls did it. This is fantastic. The result will be a big boost for Women's football in India. This is path-breaking."

"The girls were superb. We played beter actually today compared to the other day. In the second half we controlled thye game for most parts. But credit goes to the Indian girls they did not allow us to score. They were defending sharply and were really impressive. I think they should play more of such matches. They can do very well. They are above their Rankings," Dutch coach Maria van Kortenhof admitted after the match.

The Indians were pressing from the word go. By not allowing their fancied opponents time on the ball, the women in blue garnered quite a few attacks of which Parmeshwari Devi's 6th minute header almost got them the lead. But their effort paid off soon. Ashalata Devi's diagonal header off D.Grace's flag kick nested into the back of the net. The 4,000 odd vociferous crowds inside the Father Agnel Sports Complex erupted in joy.

Trailing by a goal, frustration was starting to creep in for the visitors. Chelly Drost and Lucie Akkerman got themselves booked in the process. The Indians now sat deep and guarded their citadel. The intention was clear. Soon the heat got the better of the Dutch and they called on for the drinks break.

In the dying minutes of the first half, Annebel ten Broeke - one of the goalscorers in the first Friendly - came close to equalising but captain Romi Devi was there to make an excellent interception. Changing sides, the Dutch pressed the accelerator from the beginning using to height advantage to wriggle past the Indian back four. But it was the eves' resolute defending that helped the scoreline remain the same.

The back-four comprising of Tuli Goon, Romi Devi, Ashalata Devi and Suprava Samal were on their toes throughout the second half marking the Dutch with great efficiency. There were tactical changes in the 65th minute when attacking midfielder Swati Rawat was replaced by a holding medio Manisha Panna, and Subhaprava Rout made way for stopper Lochna Munda three minutes later. Ashalata Devi was awarded the Man of the Match award.